St. Joseph Stuns Previously Unbeaten New Canaan To Reach Division I Hockey Final

According to forward Pat Corcoran, the clock was moving way too slowly.

It may have seemed like an eternity, but the Cadets survived the frantic final minutes to stun previously unbeaten New Canaan 6-5 Wednesday night in the Division I hockey semifinals at Ingalls Rink.

Corcoran and Conor Crouse put on an offensive show for St. Joseph, combining for nine points. Corcoran had three goals and an assist and Crouse added a goal and four assists.

The offensive fireworks were too much for New Canaan (25-1) to overcome, although the Rams, who were trying to beat St. Joseph for a fourth time this season, made things interesting at the end as they kept rallying from two-goal deficits.

The pace in the third period was furious, leaving a raucous crowd of 2,500 drained.

"Two minutes feels like a whole period at the end of the game," Corcoran said. "They just kept firing shots. I'd look up, there'd be two minutes. They'd keep shooting, I'd like up and it would be 1:59.  It was ridiculous."

St. Joseph (21-5), which scored three power-play goals, advanced to Saturday's 2 p.m. championship game against old rival Fairfield Prep, a 4-1 winner over South Windsor in Wednesday's other semifinal.

The schools have never faced each other in hockey, even though St. Joseph coach Marty Crouse lives five houses away from Prep assistant Rudy Mauritz.

"What an opportunity to play them," Crouse said. "I'm sure we're the underdog again. It's good to be in this position. It's good to be playing at Yale."

Although he surrendered five goals, St. Joseph goalie Zach Carrano played well in the third period, when the desperate Rams outshot the Cadets 19-5.

It was similiar to the FCIAC championship game, when New Canaan outshot St. Joseph 25-5 in the third period, erasing a two-goal deficit before winning in overtime. The big difference Wednesday is that Carrano never let in the tying goal.

"This is incredible," Carrano said.  "I've never been so happy in my life. This means the world to me. The team put  it all on the line tonight."

St Joseph opened a two-goal lead on five different occasions Wednesday and remarkably New Canaan answered each time. Three times the Rams responded within less than a minute.

The last time came when Phillip Prins beat Carrano with a wrister from the left circle for his second goal of the night to make it 6-5 with 2:03 to play.

"There was nothing that they did that surprised us," New Canaan coach Bo Hickey said. "They packed back in around the goal. We were trying to get  traffic in front and the kid (Carrano) made a couple nice saves. He's a good goaltender, there's no question about that."

Carrano stopped his final shot when he made a kick save on Tom Krieger's blast from the point with 20 seconds left. Following a scramble in front, the puck was frozen with 13 seconds to play. Another faceoff ensued with 6.7 seconds to go, but the Cadets did not allow the puck near the net.

"Our players played to their ability and we capitalized on a few chances," Marty Crouse said. "Zach kept them from capitalizing on a few of theirs, and that's the difference."

In the end, beating a good team four times in the same season was too difficult of a task for New Canaan.

"They beat us three times, but this is the one that matters the most to me," Corcoran said. "They're a really good team, but they're not going to beat us four times. We knew we had to come out and play our best hockey game and we got the win."

Facing the pressure of keeping their undefeated season alive, the Rams looked jittery early. St. Joseph took advantage to take a 2-0 lead after one on goals by Crouse and Corcoran.

"I definitely wanted to jump on them early because they had a lot to lose," Marty Crouse said. "In the back of their heads, they're thinking: 'Can they do it a fourth time?'"

Of course, the Cadets kept letting the Rams back in the game. The teams combined for five goals in the second period, with Charlie Corcoran's marker pulling New Canaan within 4-3 with 4:15 left in the second.

After Christian Keator made it 5-3 at 4:47 of the third, Dylan Hart pulled the Rams back within a goal 51 seconds later.

This time, however, it was the Cadets who answered quickly, as Matt Julian's power-play marker restored the two-goal cushion at 6:29.

The Cadets were ever mindful of what happened the last time the teams played.

"Last time in the FCIAC, we took a two-goal lead as well and they came back," Corcoran said. "This time we weren't going to let it happen. We wanted to keep shooting and keep scoring."

The victory continues the remarkable ascension of the Cadets' program as they have gone from winning the Division III title in 2009 to playing for the Division championship two years later. Last season, St. Joseph lost to Amity 6-5 in the Division II final.